Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Guthrie for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 7266, the Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act, a bipartisan bill I am proud to lead with Congresswoman McClellan, to help reauthorize and strengthen a critical program that helps rural and municipal electric utilities defend against growing cybersecurity threats to our Nation's energy grid.

Just this spring, national security experts warned that hostile nation-states are shifting from isolated cyber incidents to sustained campaigns against U.S. critical infrastructure, including the energy sector. Yet, many small and rural utilities lack the capacity and expertise to act on this information.

RMUC is designed to close that gap. In Iowa's First District, rural electric cooperatives serve ratepayers across 20 counties and face the same threats as major urban systems but with fewer resources.

By reauthorizing the Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program at DOE and authorizing $250 million over 5 years to deploy advanced cybersecurity technologies and support participation in information-sharing programs, this bill ensures rural electric cooperatives, public power, and other small utilities have access to advanced cybersecurity tools, technical assistance, and grant funding to protect, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber threats.

At a time when cyberattacks on our critical infrastructure are escalating, small and rural utilities need the resources to defend against nation-state actors and sophisticated threats. This bill provides that support.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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